I’ve been such a busy little bee over here, so concerned with the doing, I’m forgetting to SHOW you what I’m doing!
We’re post-holiday weekend this week, and it’s been so jammed pack full of work-work, that I’ve not had a lot of time to blog about the personal work. It’s a huge perk to love what you do, so I’m most certainly not complaining. I love my job, I love my family, I love my home, my animals, and my life. In short, the meaning of Thanksgiving wasn’t lost on me this year. I get it, and I am very grateful and thankful for the blessings that I have inherited and earned.
What? You heard “Blah Blah Blah Happy, Blah Blah Blah Awesome, now GET ON WITH THE PART WHERE YOU SHOW US WHAT YOU’VE BEEN UP TO”? Ah. Impatient are we? Me too. Fine.
So this one took a few days, as you can see from the before picture it was a bit of a hot mess:
Ok, so let’s discuss. The kid (whom is my 12 year old, Alex) is sitting on a fireplace hearthy-benchy thing. About four weeks ago, I got the bright idea that I wanted to make a sitting area in front of the fireplace on both sides – in the dining room and in the livingroom. The end result of that was the appearance that I was preparing for the next episode of Hoarders, Chair Edition. Which wasn’t cool. So then I started moving stuff here and moving stuff there, and it never really worked out to look even semi-decent.
I might have mentioned above that I love my job, and I tend to get pretty immersed into it. So, during the day, I’m impervious to anything outside of work unless it’s hungry or bleeding. Nights are spent on homework, hugs, cuddles and sometimes more work. The point of course is, this little before picture up above here? Yeah. 3 weeks worth of that sitting, just like that. It was like the swamp of furniture sadness. It was bad.
And here we have the after. Instead of using the original pub table I had, (which didn’t seat a family of 5) I pulled the old drop leaf plank table from my Hoarder’s stock, and put that up. I moved the new buffet (also from my Hoarder’s stock) in, even though it’s not done yet. I’ll write a leetle tutorial on how I get free crap this week. Pinky swear. And I’ll show you what I have, and maybe we can toss some ideas on what I’m going to do with it.
Anyway. More on the transformation: The bench behind the table isn’t really a bench. It’s a big ole board I spray painted white (Krylon, you are my hero) and tossed some pillows on. The bamboo rug apparently was rolled backwards, and that sucker won’t stay down to save my soul. I taped it even. Tape and cork floors are not friends. At all.
Alright, the table. I got this table for 10.00 at a garage sale. It’s solid, and functional, and other than it’s odd salmon color, I like it a lot. The chairs at the ends of the table I picked up when I bought my desk on Craigslist for free. They’re a weird leafy pattern with cherry painted arms/legs. That’s changing, I just haven’t settled on what it’s changing to yet. The chairs on the left were free, and Mandi and I scored those on Craigslist’s Free in Lansing last Saturday. They’re solid oak, a bit wobbly but will reupholster, paint and firm up just perfectly.
I don’t know what color I’m going to paint the table yet. And because I don’t know that, I don’t know what fabric I’ll be using on the chairs and what curtains I’ll be putting up, or what I’ll be doing to bastardize (or bring immense beauty to) the buffet. I also plan to paint the bamboo rug. Jury is out on that too.
So, anywho. The problem is that I have been sifting through Pinterest, BHG, HGTV, all the blogs, and…I can’t find the room that makes me gasp. When I find it, I’ll know. I’m working on it. I want the downstairs done ASAP so I can stop with the anxiety attacks every time the doorbell rings.
Possibilities:
Buffet: It’s very pretty wood, but a bit damaged. I could sand it and restain, or I could paint. Or maybe a mix of the two. I definitely want to paint the inside of the shelves and the back because it’s just so, so dark. But, then do I paint, or do I use fabric?
Table: I almost want to go all fire engine red on that sucker and distress it. Almost. Other thoughts are a dark navy, distressed, and then cover the chairs in navy/white.
Bench: It really wants to be a real bench. I’ll build it some legs. Every bench deserves legs.
Rug: I’d really like to break out the Vintage Revivals (see the rug in that post) technique and paint it. And roll it the opposite way for a week.
Anywho. Enough to chew on for today!
